Charles River Editors - Jan Hus and Ulrich Zwingli: The Lives and Deaths of the Reformation’s Most Famous Martyrs

By Charles River Editors

Jan Hus

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A contemporary depiction of Zwingli

Therefore, faithful Christian, seek the truth, listen to the truth, learn the truth, love the truth, tell the truth, learn the truth, defend the truth even to death. Jan Hus

The Christian life, then, is a battle, so sharp and full of danger that effort can nowhere be relaxed without loss. I beseech Christ for this one thing only, that He will enable me to endure all things courageously, and that He break me as a potter's vessel or make me strong, as it pleases Him. Ulrich Zwingli

Theologian and reformer John Wycliffe never had the opportunity to take his doctrines outside of his native England, but he could never have imagined that his teachings would one day travel as far as 920 miles east to Bohemia. In fact, while his contentious convictions aroused much ado at home, receiving both praise and contempt from followers and ecclesiastical figures, his messages would be far more resonant across the Channel than they ever were back home.

The revival of Wycliffe's ideas, many believe, was ignited by receptive Bohemian students who were introduced to the reformer's works at Oxford University and became so moved by his thoughts that they felt it absolutely imperative to spread the good word in their own kingdoms. Questioning Christians quietly perused compilations of Wycliffe's books and were, at the very least, intrigued by the nonconformist's opinions. One curious mind, however, was supposedly so inspired by Wycliffe that he was at once galvanized into action. Instead of simply parroting Wycliffe's seditious ideas, he launched an entire movement and remained fervidly true to his cause, even when his own life was at stake. This fearless firebrand was none other than Jan Hus, the father of the Bohemian Reformation and one of the most infamous heretics in all of Europe.

The parallels between the lives of Wycliffe and his Czech devotee were as numerous as they were uncanny. For starters, both Wycliffe and Hus came from humble beginnings, and they shared a number of similar accomplishments, including the translation of the Bible into their native languages well before Gutenberg invented the printing press. Wycliffe was apparently the first to render the Bible into English, while Hus and his successors revised the Bohemian (medieval Czech) Bible.

In the mid-14th century, the Vatican called upon England and sought financial aid in the hopes of boosting papal defenses against French forces. It was then that Wycliffe boldly stepped forth and appealed to the John of Gaunt, urging the Duke of Lancaster and Parliament to repudiate Rome's demands and citing what he believed to be the Church's abundance in wealth. According to Wycliffe, Christ's disciples, particularly clergymen, must aspire to live modestly and shun all material pleasures. Such was the word of the Lord.

Despite the growing tensions between Wycliffe and the Catholic Church, he was invited to partake in a religious committee that aimed to find solutions for the apparent failings of the institution in 1374, but progress was slow, impeded by the corruption of the priests who readily accepted bribes and immoral incentives. Wycliffe, on the contrary, was equipped with a cast-iron will and refused to cave in to temptation. His strength of character earned him the approbation of the Duke and members of Parliament. The same could not be said about his fellow clergymen.

Wycliffe's relentless criticism of the Church only continued to escalate, and eventually he was summoned to London and charged with the unforgivable crime of heresy. To the dismay of his detractors, the hearing was anything but black and white, and heated verbal exchanges soon spiraled into physical altercations. This resulted in a temporary deadlock that was broken only three months later when Pope Gregory XI published five papal bulls that unequivocally banned all of Wycliffe's teachings and found the heretic, dubbed the master of errors, guilty of 18 counts of heresy. The end, it appeared, was nigh, but Wycliffe remained unfazed, declaring, I profess and claim to be by the grace of God a sound...Christian and while there is breath in my body, I will speak forth and defend the law of it. Wycliffe told the archbishop at Lambeth Palace, I am ready to defend my convictions even unto death...I have followed the Sacred Scriptures and the holy doctors.

Though branded a heretic, the renegade did not die in Christ's name, but Hus would not be so fortunate. Moreover, while Wycliffe's critics rejoiced at the news of his demise, they soon discovered that his influence was far more difficult to extinguish than they initially anticipated. In 1427, a whole 43 years after Wycliffe's passing, his corpse was exhumed by local authorities and cremated, and the ashes were dumped into the River Swift, but Wycliffe's indelible ideas had taken on a life of their own, and they would be championed by Hus. The 17th century historian Thomas Fuller poetically described the ripple effect: Thus the brook hath conveyed his ashes into Avon; Avon into Severn; Severn into the narrow seas; and they into the main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine which now is dispersed the world over.

If Wycliffe was the Morning Star of the Reformation, Hus was the Guiding Star of the movement. Hus started as a Czech priest, but he quickly became notorious for debating several Church doctrines such as the Eucharist, Church ecclesiology, and many more topics. Today, he is viewed as a predecessor of the Lutherans, but the Church viewed him as a threat, and the Catholics eventually engaged Hus followers (known as Hussites) in several battles in the early 15th century. Hus himself was burned at the stake in 1415, but his followers fought on in a series of battles known as the Hussite Wars, and Czechoslovakias inhabitants by and large remained Hussite afterward. About 100 years later, reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli would help spark the Reformation across the continent.

On March 9, 1522, the first Sunday of Lent, Catholics across Europe ushered in a 40-day period of solemn penitence, self-imposed moderation, and spiritual discipline by marking crosses onto their foreheads with ash-coated fingers. They dutifully adhered to the Lenten laws, immersing themselves in prayer, modulating their consumption of booze, and avoiding meat in preparation for the death and resurrection of Christ.

Meanwhile, a band of about a dozen rebellious Christians gathered in a printer's workshop in Grabengasse, Zurich, fully resolved to march to the beat of their own drum. These renegades were intent on broadcasting a message to the corrupt and increasingly dishonorable Catholic Church. The group included: Christoph Froschauer, the proprietor of the printing shop; Hans Oggenfuss, a tailor by trade; Niklaus Hottinger, a shoemaker; Laurenz Hochrutiner, a weaver; and Heinrich Aberli, a baker. All of them had garnered reputations as wayward pro-reform activists campaigning for a return to the old ways of the Scripture and the eradication of faulty interpretations of God's word. Aberli opted to get a start on the protest on Ash Wednesday, just four days prior, by eating a homemade roast in front of a stunned audience at the bakers' guild house. Along with these rebels were two priests: Leo Juda from Alsace and 38-year-old Ulrich Zwingli.